Hain Celestial Personal Care Brands and CARE® Combine Forces Again To Expand Support of the Qach'Umilal Girls' Education and Leadership Project with Release of Limited Edition Products

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., March 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alba Botanica®, Avalon Organics® and JĀSÖN® brands, along with leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty, CARE®, are delighted to announce the expansion of the Qach'Umilal Girls' Education and Leadership Project with second year of support for another Guatemalan region in need, and to celebrate the progress of the Empower Her ThroughEducation campaign thus far.

This year's program benefits an additional group of 200 indigenous girls from families in western Guatemala by supporting their primary school education. As part of the brands' Empower Her ThroughEducation campaign with CARE®, this program is a crucial step in making a difference in girls' and women's lives and their communities, while breaking down barriers to education for girls in developing countries.

The Qach'Umilal (or Guiding star in the Mayan language K'iche) Girls' Education and Leadership project not only promotes access to educational programs for girls, but also helps to keep girls in school, while helping to build self-esteem and leadership skills. Currently in Guatemala, only 60% of students who start first grade complete sixth grade. Retention is even lower among young girls, who are expected to devote a majority of their time to domestic and field chores. Guatemalan women and girls face countless additional challenges due to gender discrimination and ethnical racism. The Qach'Umilal Girls' Education and Leadership Project has made significant progress in empowering girls to be more confident by emphasizing music, art and relationship-building. These key factors are what drive the Qach'Umilal Girls' Education and Leadership Project to inspire change and enable girls to follow their dreams.

"The Qach'Umilal project shows what impact we can make when we invest in girls, especially when those investments knock down the barriers keeping them from school and otherwise holding them back," said Michelle Nunn, CARE's president and CEO. "We're delighted to have a partner like Hain Celestial that so generously expresses our shared commitment to equipping girls with the tools they need to thrive. Now more than ever, it's exciting to see opportunities for consumers to express their support and connection to women and girls around the world."

Following the success of last year's efforts to raise awareness, the Alba Botanica®, Avalon Organics® and JĀSÖN® brands, in collaboration with CARE, are introducing a collection of limited edition personal care products featuring actual drawings from the girls participating in the Qach'Umilal program. The brand has chosen their best-selling products to display the meaningful limited edition labels to honor this year's program. The Alba Botanica®, Avalon Organics® and JĀSÖN® brands have donated $50,000 directly to the local schools through this partnership, going directly to support the 200 girls in the Qach'Umilal program.

"The Qach'Umilal Girls' Education and Leadership Project is not seen as a donation from Hain Celestial but as an investment in our future women of the world. This year it was important to us at Hain Celestial to expand upon the program allowing our consumers to also have a voice in the project; whether it is from purchasing, donating or joining us at our event held on March 1st in New York City. No matter the level of participation it all leads to one common goal: positive change in these young women's lives." said Julie Marchant-Houle, General Manager, Personal Care at The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. "We're simply honored to be part of this initiative for a second year in a row. It's amazing to see the positive change in these girls' lives and communities."

To expand on this, the brands in partnership with CARE hosted a consumer facing event in New York City on March 1, 2017 to encourage support of the cause while all charitable donations contribute to further fund CARE initiatives. The event focused on women's empowerment inspired by the Qach'Umilal Girls' Education and Leadership Project with a motivational Yoga session led by Beauty and Wellness Expert, Jeannine Morris, and a presentation from the Hain Celestial brands on their work with CARE. Consumers were encouraged to share what access to education means to them via social media using #accesstodream and expressed words of encouragement by painting on a large canvas wall.

About CAREFounded 70 years ago with the creation of the CARE Package®, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE places special focus on working alongside poor girls and women because, equipped with the proper resources, they have the power to lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty.

Our seven decades of experience show that when you empower a girl or woman, she becomes a catalyst, creating ripples of positive change that lift up everyone around her. That's why girls and women are at the heart of CARE's community-based efforts to improve education, health and economic opportunity for everyone. We also work with girls and women to promote social justice, respond to emergencies and confront hunger and climate change. Last year CARE worked in 95 countries and reached more than 65 million people around the world. To learn more, visit www.care.org.